10 Pinoy Health Myths You Once Thought Were True

As children, we were taught never to mess with ant hills. If your feet swelled up or you got feverish, you were told you probably stepped on the forbidden mound and got cursed by the nuno sa punso.

When you got older, you realized that the feared mound of the unexplained was actually inhabited by termites instead of little old men or dwarves. Disappointing, really. Because your swollen feet and fever might have come from joint aches and not a curse, which burst your bubble a little.

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Admit it, knowing that Pardina’s friends and those fun creatures from Inday Bote were myths is like knowing the truth about Santa Claus. Bummer.

Here are 10 health myths that made you a sucker, but perhaps now you know better.

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Sleeping with wet hair causes blindness

Does our hair give off toxic fumes when we sleep, to cause us to go blind? At least that’s how we used to picture it as kids.

Of course, from a medical standpoint, there is absolutely no plausible reason for you to go blind if you sleep with wet hair, as ophthalmologists will tell you. Probably the only bad thing about sleeping with wet hair is how stringy it might feel in the morning.

Going to a manghihilot to get pregnant

For Filipino women having trouble conceiving, it’s common to be told to go to a manghihilot who can supposedly help position the lowered uterus by raising it, in turn preparing it for conception.

While some attribute their successful pregnancy to the old woman with the expert hands, others are still unable to get pregnant. There’s just no scientific evidence to support the claim that abdominal massages can increase a woman’s chances of getting pregnant.

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Pasma

We’ve heard it once too often. After a long hard day of labor or a few hours ironing clothes, you shouldn’t touch cold water because you might suffer from pasma. But the problem is, pasma does not exist—medically, that is.

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Brushed off as folk illness by medical anthropologists, a lot of Pinoys still believe it actually happens.

Usog

Usogis when you unknowingly hex a child by greeting him or her (binati) or just by being new to that place. It was believed that usog would lead the child to suffer from gas pain, fever, convulsions, and headaches. Apparently, the only cure is by wetting your fingertips with your saliva and rubbing this on the child’s forehead, tummy, or feet while saying “pwera usog.”

And the only way to reverse this is to step over the child again. By now we know better; no amount of stepping over will turn you into a midget and no reverse stepping over will ever undo our being short.

But really, would you take a chance rather than throw it out kasi wala pang five seconds?

Sucking on your pricked finger so the blood can re-enter your body

Well, it would. Just not enough to make it through your circulation. It wouldn't even reach your throat. But we know that blood is vital to life, and in theory, we know it has to be conserved. Hence the health myth of sucking on one’s pricked finger so you don’t waste a drop.